Nationalism Building a German Nation

• Identify several events that promoted German unity during the early 1800s.

• Explain how Bismarck unified Germany.

• Analyze the basic political organization of the new German empire.

Chapter 22 Section 1

Terms and People

•

Otto von Bismarck

succeeding in unifying German-speaking states under Prussian rule – a leader from Prussia who •

chancellor

– the highest official of a monarch •

Realpolitik

of the state – realistic politics based on the needs •

annex

– to take control of, usually referring to land •

kaiser

– emperor •

Reich

– German empire

How did Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor of Prussia, lead the drive for German unity?

German-speaking people lived in several small states in the early 1800s.

This changed when

Otto von Bismarck

chancellor in Prussia and decided to build a unified German state.

became

Napoleon’s invasions into German-speaking states produced changes in these territories.

1. He dissolved the Holy Roman Empire.

2. He organized several German states into the Rhine Confederation.

3. He made trade easier in the region.

German-speaking people fought together to free themselves from French rule and began to consider creating a united German state.

Creating a united Germany was difficult.

• It required dissolving the small governments each German state.

of • Instead, leaders created a weak alliance the German Confederation.

called • Prussia created an economic union in the 1830s called the Zollverein, but Germany remained fragmented politically.

This changed when Otto von Bismarck rose to power in Prussia.

He became prime minister in 1862, then rose to

chancellor.

Bismarck was Prussian rule to do so.

determined to unite Germany under and used a policy of “blood and iron”

Bismarck mastered

Realpolitik

and strengthened the Prussian army.

• Realpolitik was an ideology that favored power over principle.

• He then led Prussia into three wars.

• These actions all paved the way for German unification.

Otto von Bismarck took methodical steps to increase Prussia’s power and territory.

He formed an alliance with Austria, then seized provinces from Denmark.

Next, he attacked Austria and

annexed

several states.

He dissolved the German Confederation and replaced it with one led by Prussia.

The unification of Germany under Prussian rule occurred mainly between 1865 and 1871.

The Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870.

Bismarck stoked the rivalry between the two states by editing a telegram to make it appear that King William I of Prussia had insulted a French ambassador.

After a furious Napoleon III declared war, states easily within weeks.

Prussia and other German defeated the French

Leaders in many German states urged William I of Prussia to take the title kaiser.

• German nationalists celebrated the beginning of the second

Reich,

the second German empire after the Holy Roman Empire.

• Bismarck wrote a constitution and set up a two-house legislature. However, real power remained with the emperor and chancellor.

Otto von Bismarck . . . .

The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they’ll sleep at night.

Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied.

The great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and majority decisions—that was the mistake of 1848-1849—but by blood and iron.

Otto von Bismarck . . . .

I am bored. The great things are done. The German Reich is made.

A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a generation that deals one.

Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans will provoke the next war.